Abstract
Wave energy harvesting is an emerging technology that has been generating serious interest and research development as an alternative renewable energy source. There are currently more than 200 wave energy conversion devices in various stages of testing and demonstration, resulting in numerous industrial and academic endeavours, knowledgebases, and academic literature since the oil crisis. Whilst there already exist a handful of textbooks on the topic of wave energy harvesting, a textbook that systematically guides researchers and engineers into this interesting area is lacking, to the best understanding of the editors of this book.
This book, Modelling and Optimisation of Wave Energy Converters, presents the fundamental and contemporary state of the art modelling and optimisation approaches that are essential for the design of wave energy converter technologies, drawing on the insights and experience of globally-recognised experts in their various relevant fields. The book content is carefully organised to lead the readership gradually into the story of wave energy harvesting in terms of technology evolutions, economics, development trends, fundamental theories, modern concepts, and cutting-edge methodologies, as supported by over 800 of the most relevant articles in the literature and 6 typical case studies. Not only the breadth and depth of the content but also the applied pyramid structure in presentation make this book unique and a must-read for newcomers to the field of wave energy harvesting.
This book consists of four parts. Section I reviews the history and current status of wave energy converter development, followed by discussions of the future perspectives of the field. Section II introduces the important fundamental theories applicable to wave energy harvesting, such as fluid dynamics, wave-structure interaction solvers, wave energy converter modelling techniques, principles of wave power absorption, and control system and power take-off design. Section III investigates the modelling and performance optimisation of various representative modern wave energy converter technologies, with their theoretical basis thoroughly analysed and their applications examined using case studies that readers are able to replicate. Section IV expands the topics to the modelling and optimisation of wave energy converter farms, as a commonly-agreed trend towards the commercialisation of wave energy harvesting.